Lewes District Scouts
Purpose of Award
To provide those involved in canoeing and other water-based activities with the basic knowledge and skills required to render First Aid should the need arise. This award is intended to address. the First Aid incidents most likely to arise during the majority of canoeing situations, which take place on very sheltered to moderate water and within a reasonable distance of medical assistance. Those undertaking canoeing in more hazardous environments or in a remote location should consider acquiring a more comprehensive First Aid award, such as the BCU Aquatic First Aid Level 2.
Validity
This award is valid for 3 years from the date of the course.Holding this award meets the requirement that all BCU Level 1 to 5 Coaches hold a current First Aid certificate.
Structure
The course is designed to cover First Aid techniques relevant to canoeing and other water-based activities and will be taught over an 8 hour period. Candidates obtaining a sound knowledge and understanding of the subject during the theoretical and practical tuition of the course will obtain the Aquatic First Aid Certificate. Assessment will be ongoing throughout the course and not by separate examination.
Trainer / Assessor
A Level 1 Aquatic First Aid Assessor can train and assess up to 8 candidates. A Level 2 Coach (Instructor) who has held the qualification for three years or more, or a holder of a higher award, can be appointed as a Level 1 Aquatic First Aid Assessor if they (i) hold a 16 hour First Aid certificate, such as the BCU Aquatic First Aid Level 2, (ii) can demonstrate that they regularly update their first aid skills, and (iii) have attended an Aquatic First Aid Assessors Course. First Aid Trainers from other organisations wishing to be registered to run the Aquatic First Aid Level 1 course should make enquiries through the BCU office,
Pre-Requisite None
Course Administration
A form of registration should be obtained from the BCU Office, for notifying the names and addresses of the candidates. This must be returned within two weeks of the course, together with a £5.00 fee (£7.00 for non-members). A certificate will be sent to each candidate, and the AFA award noted on their record.
Syllabus
1 Incident Management
The aims of First Aid and a First Aider’s responsibilities, assessing a situation, the principles of diagnosis, the principles and priorities of treat-ment, preventing cross-infection and handling the aftermath.
2 The ABC of Resuscitation
The resuscitation of adults and older children, including maintaining an open airway, mouth to mouth & mouth to nose ventilation, external chest compression’s, the action to be taken if a casualty vomits, dealing with choking, and the recovery position.
3 Drowning and Cold Water Immersion
Drowning. Fresh water drowning, salt water drowning, the treatment of a victim of near drowning and the risks of secondary drowning, Drowning complications, including prolonged immersion.
Cold Water Immersion. The effects of immersion in cold water, from the initial cold shock reaction to post immersion collapse.
4 The Effects of Heat and Cold
Hypothermia. The diagnosis and treatment of acute (immersion) and sub-acute (exhaustion) hypothermia.
Hyperthermia. The diagnosis and treatment of heatstroke and heat exhaustion.
5 Wounds and Major Bleeding
The diagnosis and treatment of minor bleeding, severe bleeding, embedded objects and internal bleeding.
6 Shock
The diverse causes of shock, the recognition of shock and the treatment of shock.
7 Other Conditions
Heart Attacks. The diagnosis and treatment of angina, coronary obstructions and cardiac arrest.
Head Injury and Other Causes of Unconsciousness. The diagnosis and treatment of concussion, compression, strokes and other forms of unconsciousness which may arise during water-based activities, including fainting, epilepsy and diabetic emergencies.
Fractures, Dislocations and fractures, including open fractures.
Continual Assessment
Assessment will be ongoing throughout the course and not by separate examina-tion. However, it must be stressed that simply attending for 8 hours of tuition is not in itself a guarantee of being awarded the Aquatic First Aid Certificate, The trainer/assessor must be satisfied that the candidate has acquired a sufficient level of knowledge and skill such that they could save a life through the applica-tion of First Aid. This will usually be determined through a combination of vebal interaction and practical demonstration.
In particular, all candidates are expected to show that they can deal with an unconscious casualty and demonstrate both EAV and CPR using a mannequin.. To this end, all candidates will be presented with an unconscious casualty and asked to deal with the situation, including making the checks required to ascertain whether or not the casualty is breathing or has a pulse and taking the correct sequence of actions for their diagnosis.
Notes for 'Trainers/Assessors
At the very least, by the end of the course each candidate should be able to assess and treat an unconscious non-breathing casualty without know-ing in advance whether or not the casualty will be breathing or have a pulse. In other words, the candidate must be presented with an unknown incident involving an unconscious casualty The following notes suggest ways in which this exercise can be made as effective as possible. Do not tell the candidates anything in advance. The initial position of the casualty (i.e. prone or supine) can be varied; not all casualties end up in convenient position. Similarly, the casualty may or may not have an initial pulse. If a pulse is present to start with it should be lost at some point and the candidate is expected to discover this when they make their regular checks, Some casualties may `vomit' during the incident. The candidate is expected to make a correct assessment and take the appropriate actions, which will include a demonstration of at least 3 minutes of CPR. Allow the casualty to recover their breathing (but point out that this is unlikely if there was no pulse) and expect the candidate to put them in the recovery position without too much prompting. If possible, put the casualty into a context. There might be some sort of danger, other injuries, other conscious casualties, or bystanders who can get help. Consider asking two candidates to deal with a situation involving two unconscious casualties.
Treat the incident as part of the training and if a candidate performs below the required standard (or even just above) point out what they did wrong and give them another go, but make sure the scenario is different. Consider allowing the candidates to watch each other because this will provide them all with valuable experience. This is particularly appropriate when there is only one trainer/assessor. If the candidates do watch each other, do not give every candidate the same scenario. Do not expect the candidate to be at the standard of a paramedic, but if by the end of the course the candidate continually fails to make the required checks, does not know the correct sequence of actions and is unable to perform effective CPR then they should not be awarded the Certificate.
Casualty handling and initial assessment should be demonstrated with a volunteer. However, the use of a mannequin for CPR and/or EAV is essential. Under no circumstances should CPR or FAV be attempted on a volunteer.This award may be covered in a single 8 hour session or several shorter sessions. The latter is often easier because it allowed time for revision between sessions. As a rough guide, here are some typical timings for each part of the syllabus:
Incident Management 30 min
The ABC of resuscitation 150 min
Drowning and cold water immersion 30 min
The Effects of Heat and Cold 30 min
Wounds and Major Bleeding 30 min
Shock 20 min
Heart Attacks 20 min
Head Injuries and Other Causes of Unconsciousness 30 min
Fractures, Dislocation, Strains and Sprains 30 min
which leaves just under 2 hours for revision and practical, including presenting each candidate with an unknown incident.
Author: Kevin Sampson